Chapter 9, Song 9...
Qu Jiaying took her zither and stepped off the stage, where Chen Li was waiting for them.
"Come on, someone's here to introduce you," Chen Li called out.
Qu Jiaying wiped her sweat with the back of her hand, and a familiar handkerchief appeared in her line of sight. She took it and smiled at Yan Zheng, saying, "Thanks."
Xiang Min silently took back the tissue.
Chen Li walked to a booth and introduced the middle-aged man: "This is Xu Yuewen, a well-known recording engineer in the industry. He has recorded for the National Symphony Orchestra."
"Hello." Qu Jiaying greeted him calmly, Le Yi was driven by curiosity, Yan Zheng was respectful and reserved, and Xiang Min's expression was more complicated.
Xu Yuewen looked at the four of them and smiled gently, "Don't be nervous, your performance was very good, especially the first violinist, your interpretation was also very interesting."
“We all offered our ideas, and in the end, it was Yan Zheng, well, the violist who brought them together, he studied conducting,” Qu Jiaying said.
Xu Yuewen nodded and praised, "Not bad, you brought out the style of all four of them. Yan Zheng, you will become a good commander in the future."
Yan Zheng suppressed his excitement and kept expressing his gratitude.
Xu Yuewen chatted for a few minutes, then a friend called him, and after saying goodbye to Chen Li, he left.
Qu Jiaying and the others sat down at the table. Yan Zheng was in an unusually good mood. He looked at the wine list with great interest and said, "Since you two drink, I'll try some today too."
Le Yi also wanted to drink, so he asked Qu Jiaying to recommend some cocktails for him.
Qu Jiaying didn't stop him, but she still ordered some low-alcohol cocktails.
The first thing served was a pinkish-pink Bellini, a sparkling wine base with a very low alcohol content, just some peach wine and fruit pulp added. Le Yi exclaimed, "It doesn't taste like alcohol!"
He drank it all in one gulp.
Yan Zheng held the copper cup and sipped his Moscow Mule. The ginger beer was mixed with vodka, giving it both a ginger flavor and a bubbly texture. He, who never drinks, really didn't like it. He was annoyed that Qu Jiaying had ordered a low-alcohol, easy-to-drink cocktail for Le Yi, so he wanted to drag Le Yi into it too. He laughed and said, "Order a classic one for Le Yi too."
"I tried my best today. This was my first time performing on stage, and I was super nervous, but thankfully I didn't mess it up," Le Yi said with a smile.
"First time? Never before?" Qu Jiaying was extremely surprised.
"You've never participated in a competition before, that's quite rare," Yan Zheng sighed.
Xiang Min waved and ordered a gin and tonic for Le Yi, and two whiskeys for him and Qu Jiaying. He laughed and said, "It seems that Le Yi is very good. He is not nervous at all. I have not participated in many competitions, but I can play many instruments and have performed often since I was a child. I always made mistakes the first time I went on stage."
"I messed up the first time I participated in a competition. I played the wrong note and stopped. I should have just pretended nothing happened and kept playing." Qu Jiaying still remembers this incident vividly.
“But your on-the-spot reaction is very strong right now.” Le Yi frowned as he drank his unsweetened gin and tonic.
"So she doesn't want to make the same mistake again. I know that she got second place in that competition because of a mistake." Yan Zheng was getting drunk and wanted to tell Le Yi and Xiang Min all the little stories he had treasured.
Speaking of this, Qu Jiaying got angry. The first competition was specially selected by teacher Xia Xiaolei. It wasn't a low-level competition, it was quite formal, but it wasn't the best competition for the youth group in the country. The purpose was to build her confidence, but she made a small mistake.
After that, she went to better, bigger competitions. In elementary school, she struggled to get into the finals. In middle school, she finally won an award, placing third. Until she went to college, she consistently ranked in the top three.
Originally, the next challenge was an international competition. Qu Jiaying swirled the amber-colored liquor in her glass, drank it all in one gulp, and then called for a refill.
The four of them didn't usually have in-depth conversations, but today, under the influence of celebration and alcohol, they chatted about everything under the sun. As a result, the two who had been drinking didn't notice, and the two who had never drunk alcohol didn't know their own alcohol tolerance. They drank too much and became troublesome drunkards.
Le Yi was fast asleep on the bar, while Yan Zheng kept talking.
"Two types of drunkards, what do we do now?" Qu Jiaying asked Xiang Min.
Xiang Min also had a headache; it was already very late.
Qu Jiaying suggested, "Send them back to school. They both live in dorms. Leave the instruments at the bar for now and pick them up tomorrow."
"It's fine to leave the piano at the shop," Xiang Min sighed. "I'm not sure which dorm they live in, and once you get to the boys' dorm, you can't get in. Do you expect me to carry these two drunkards upstairs by myself?"
As they were talking, Yan Zheng waved his hand forcefully, almost hitting Le Yi who was standing to the side.
Qu Jiaying was silent for two seconds: "Okay, then I'll send it to you?"
Xiang Min didn't want them to go. Yan Zheng was one thing, but Le Yi's personality meant he might keep coming over after finding out the address.
His eyes were full of affection as he looked at Qu Jiaying and whispered, "Only you have ever been to my place."
Qu Jiaying stared at him intently, then rubbed her forehead and conceded, "Let's find a hotel nearby and put them both in."
Xiang Min had no objections.
Qu Jiaying moved closer to Le Yi, nudging him and calling his name.
Le Yi groggily opened his eyes, grabbed Qu Jiaying's hand, and mumbled, "I don't want to move... I want to sleep."
"You can sleep well if you change places, get up quickly." Qu Jiaying supported Le Yi.
Xiang Min took charge of making noise, and the four of them said goodbye to Chen Li at the door.
Chen Li glanced at Qu Jiaying. Before Xu Yuewen left, he told her that although the first violinist was already playing very well and had the presence of a soloist, her playing was still missing something. The breakthrough might happen in an instant, or it might never happen.
"Jiaying, you're coming to pick up the instrument tomorrow, right?"
Qu Jiaying struggled to support Le Yi and nodded with difficulty: "What's wrong?"
"I need your help with something, the four of you. Let's talk tomorrow." Chen Li opened the bar door for them.
The four of them strolled toward the nearest hotel.
Upon arriving at the front desk, the receptionist asked how many rooms we needed.
"One twin room, just for these two drunkards," Xiang Min said.
When asked for their ID cards again, Qu Jiaying said to Xiang Min, "Look in Yan Zheng's pocket. Knowing his personality, he always carries all his documents with him when he goes out."
She turned all of Le Yi's pockets inside out, only to find them empty.
Xiang Min found Yan Zheng's ID, sighed, and took it out of his own pocket to hand it over: "Excuse me, is this alright?"
After hesitating for a moment, the receptionist let them through.
The four of them moved back into the room. Qu Jiaying threw Le Yi onto the bed by the door and let out a loud sigh of relief.
Xiang Min couldn't stand Yan Zheng's constant hand gestures anymore, so he tossed Yan Zheng next to Le Yi.
Qu Jiaying leaned against another bed and sighed, "I'm so tired and sleepy, I don't want to move..."
Xiang Min sat on the small sofa: "Then let's rest here."
Qu Jiaying struggled with her drowsiness and began to talk nonsense: "I don't want the front desk to think I'm a 4P person, how about a mahjong table?"
Xiang Min laughed out loud: "What's the use of burying your head in the sand?"
Yan Zheng muttered again, "Welcome...the conductor of the symphony orchestra..."
Qu Jiaying was already drowsy. She crawled into bed and patted the side of her: "The sofa is too small. Come over here too. If they're not feeling well, or if they make any other noises, get up and take care of them."
Xiang Min first fed Le Yi and Yan Zheng some water, covered them with blankets, sat down next to Qu Jiaying, and asked in a low voice, "Is this okay? Does this count as staying overnight?"
Qu Jiaying hummed twice with her eyes closed, clearly already asleep.
Xiang Min stared at her for a long while before gently lying down.
The next morning, Qu Jiaying was awakened by the noise.
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
Why is Yan Zheng sleeping in the same bed as me?
The above is Le Yi's voice; he woke Yan Zheng up. The following is Yan Zheng's voice.
"Why are Xiang Min and Jia Ying sleeping in the same bed?"
How much did I drink last night?
Qu Jiaying was equally regretful. Her pretty dress was all wrinkled, she hadn't had time to remove her makeup last night, and she still hadn't taken off the hair clips. She had to face the noisy boys first thing this morning.
She occupied the restroom and came out a dozen minutes later, her long hair loose and her face clean. She couldn't help but yawn: "You guys go wash up."
Yan Zheng and Xiang Min were still deferring to each other, but Le Yi was the first to rush in.
"Hurry up, I'm so hungry, and Chen Li wants to talk to us," Qu Jiaying urged.
Even with the three boys' proficiency in operations management, it still took them nearly half an hour.
After leaving the hotel, Qu Jiaying took them directly back to the bar.
Yan Zheng found it strange: "Aren't we supposed to have breakfast first?"
“I just messaged Chen Li, and she said there’s a staff meal available, so let’s go over there first,” Qu Jiaying said.
So the four of them returned to the stage from yesterday. The bar was extremely quiet during the day, or rather, in the morning.
The brisk female bartender put down four chairs that had been upside down on the table and brought breakfast to them: "Wait a moment, Chen Li is checking the inventory. You can eat first."
Breakfast was nothing special, just ordinary steamed buns, eggs, cold dishes, and rice porridge, but Qu Jiaying was very happy. She had been drinking last night and didn't rest until late, so she needed to eat something mild and light.
"Thank you." Qu Jiaying didn't know her name yet.
"Yang Jingyi".
Qu Jiaying chatted with Yang Jingyi while eating: "Did you just get off work this morning?"
"Yes, we'll open the door tonight."
Yang Jingyi also learned the violin when she was a child, but gave it up when she went to middle school. She met Chen Li in college, and they became friends because of their shared experience in music and their interest in wine. After graduation, they opened a shop together.
Qu Jiaying and Yang Jingyi exchanged contact information, and after breakfast, they went to pick up the piano.
Chen Li finished her work and pulled up a chair next to their seats. Before she was even settled in, she began to speak: "I have something else to ask you about."
"Is it still a performance?" Xiang Min asked.
Chen Li nodded: "My grandma is about to celebrate her 88th birthday, but she hasn't been feeling well lately. I've been going to the hospital to take care of her a lot lately, and I'd like you to perform on her birthday."
Chen Li added some more information about her grandmother: "She was a violinist. She used to be in a performing arts troupe and later became a teacher at a music academy, the same one you all attended. Although she wasn't in good health, her hearing was still very sharp."
"Why didn't you learn the violin?" Yan Zheng asked curiously.
"I tried it at first, but it didn't work at all. My whole family joined in to teach me, which involved hitting, scolding, arguing, and my crying. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore and sent me outside to learn piano." Chen Li said with a wry smile, "But it didn't get much better. Everyone in my family is musical, so if I didn't practice seriously enough or kept making the same mistakes that I couldn't correct, they would still hit and scold me."
Le Yi and Yan Zheng echoed each other with empathy, saying, "It's true, practicing the piano was very tough when we were kids."
Qu Jiaying and Xiang Min didn't quite understand.
Qu Jiaying asked, puzzled, "Have you all been beaten up?"
Yan Zheng sighed: "Teacher Xia is a very nice person, but my parents are quite strict."
"Le Yi, is that you too?" Qu Jiaying asked.
Le Yi nodded: "But only the very first teacher did that. My parents couldn't stand it when they found out, so they changed my teacher. Oh, right, my second teacher used to be in the performing arts troupe. He also went to the music academy afterward and retired to live in my hometown, a tourist city."
Qu Jiaying knows that many piano students have very strict teachers and parents, and the same is true abroad, but she is very lucky that she has never experienced it herself or heard others talk about it.
"So you're quite filial to your grandma." Qu Jiaying managed to say.
Chen Li smiled helplessly and sighed, "Her condition has worsened recently. I originally wanted to take her to a larger concert venue in her wheelchair, but now we can't go."
"What illness do you have?" Xiang Min asked.
“It’s mainly cancer, and she also has some other ailments. Chemotherapy isn’t very effective, and she’s constantly being hospitalized. I’m worried she won’t last much longer,” Chen Li said.
"Do you have any ideas about the music?" Qu Jiaying asked.
“Beethoven’s fate,” Chen Li said after thinking for a while.
Although time was tight, with only a few days left until the grandmother's birthday, and the score for the symphony had to be changed into a string quartet, the four agreed to the high price Chen Li asked for.
The performance got off to a bad start. Forget about formal rehearsals, the score couldn't even be revised in half a day. The issue of revising the score almost caused the "three missing one" quartet to disband.
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